contain evidence. the fbi says its cyber alert has been taken out of context. its intent was simply to aid law enforcement in gathering evidence. still child safety advocates say buyer, beware. i'm karen gray houston, fox 5 news. and the news keeps coming. here's brian now with the news edge at 11:00. right now on the edge another suspected terrorist caught in the act, this time up in baltimore at a military recruiting center. the deadly bomb plot stopped by the fbi. fox 5's bob barnard live off the top with more on this terror plot stop. bob. >> well, brian, according to these court documents if he had the money, suspect antonio martinez would have gone to afghanistan to kill american soldiers. instead the feds allege martinez settled on cutting down u.s. military men and women here in catonsville maryland by blowing up this recruiting center. reportedly a recent convert to

islam, antonio martinez called himself muhammed hussein. the 21-year-old is now charged with plotting to blow up the armed forces career center here in kays to beville with a bomb in the back -- catonsville with a bomb in the back of an suv that he allegedly parked in front of the building after 9 a.m. >> we heard a loud bang at the corner of our building towards the back. we didn't know what was going on. as soon as we heard the loud bang, they blocked every parking lot entrance. >> reporter: the fbi wouldn't say what the loud noise was people reported hearing but insist the public was never in any danger. >> the explosive device that mr. martinez attempted to detonate this morning was inert. that means it was not going to explode. >> reporter: that's because investigators say the fake bomb was built by an undercover fbi agent helping to catch martinez in a sting. they first learned about the 2005 graduate of laurel high school from somebody who had read martinez's postings on facebook under the name

muhammed hussein. in recorded conversations starting in late october, investigators say martinez talked about wanting to break into the recruiting center through the roof to shoot everybody in the place, then considered burning down the building to instill fear. >> we handle a significant amount of tips every day coming in from the public. we follow up on every one of those and some of them lead to cases. >> reporter: the feds say martinez was recorded saying, "i have a desire to die in the cause of allah, to do it for jihad," that he wanted to carry out short small attacks against the military saying they will be killed until they stop waging war against islam. now if convicted of the two charges against him, which are attempting to kill employees of the u.s. government and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against a building leased by the u.s. government, martinez would face the possibility of life in prison.

>> bob that, bomb plot just the latest in a growing number of attempted terror attacks on u.s. soil. today secretary of homeland security janet napolitano agreed the threat of homegrown terrorists is on the rise. fox 5's laura evans continues our coverage from the newsroom. >> we have seen a number of homegrown terrorists over the past few years. you'll remember the man accused in the bomb plot just outside baltimore is an american citizen and secretary of homeland security janet napolitano says that is a trend with more and more americans becoming radicalized. two weeks ago a somali american was arrested in oregon. the fbi said the teen tried to set off what he thought were explosives during a christmas tree lighting ceremony and then you'll remember back in october a northern virginia man was charged with plotting to bomb metro using suitcases packed with explosives. secretary napolitano says there is no doubt we have seen much more terror activity here at in >> my assessment is that the

threat environment now is increasingly active and that is it not restricted to plots that are hatched overseas and then flown into the united states, but that it also now includes an increasing amount of hometown or homegrown terrorist activity, particularly by individuals who have become radicalized. >> reporter: and in many of the recent cases we've seen terror suspects nabbed by the fbi in sting operations. napolitano said today that will continue. the sting operations are really important for fighting terrorism here at home. >> i'm sure, laura, there are a lot of things we know and don't know about homeland security trying to stop homegrown terrorism. >> homeland security is really putting a big emphasis on prevention right now. napolitano says homeland security begins with hometown security. today the agency, in fact, launched a campaign called see

something, say something and that campaign includes signs going up in federal buildings, train stations, metrorail, malls, sports arenas and stadiums, even wal-mart, in fact, is running video messages in its stores. >> a new york street vendor tipped off a police officer about the bombing attempt in times square and it was nearly a year ago that it was a group of passengers on flight 253 who intervened to stop a bombing attempt on christmas day. >> and she's talking about how important it is for the public to get involved in this. she wants to lean on the public to be very, very aware and very lidge lant and again, brian, these the pro -- vigilant and again, brian, these plots are not being hatched overseas. in baltimore the suspect does not appear to be linked to al qaeda. these are so-called lone wolves acting on their own which makes them even more difficult to detect. >> you can find out more on the nation's homegrown terror problem. we've posted an in depth

interview with a really fascinating man, a terror expert by the name of neil livingstone right there on www.myfoxdc.com. another big story, flames rip through a home in montgomery county, the video behind me from sky fox as firefighters worked in bone chilling temperatures to try to get this blaze under control. fox 5's will thomas has more from north potomac. >> reporter: well, it was a massive house fire in a remote part of montgomery county, so isolated, in fact, six tanker trucks had to be brought in. then they create what's called water dump sites to provide firefighters a continuous supply of water. the call for help came just before 5:30. already dark and flames shooting out of every window of the large house on prairie mill road, firefighters faced multiple challenges from the moment they arrived. >> certainly with respect to the coldness it makes it very hard cup lipping hose and uncoupling hose getting --

coupling hose and uncoupling hose getting it out of the hydrants. water on wheels means we have tanker trucks that carry thousands of gallons of water. >> reporter: six tankers carrying 3,500 gallons of water apiece wasn't enough. additional water supplies were driven in and used by nearly 100 firefighters on the scene. the second story collapsed into the first, but how the fire started and why is still a mystery. the only person home at the time and the family dog made it out. neighbors like paul gill was unable to drive down their road, but the walk allowed him to view the damage so very close to him. >> obviously there are no fire hydrants, so that's always a concern for us. where do you get the water? >> reporter: firefighters tell us four adults live inside the house, parents and their two adult children. we're told they're renting the house, just moved in about six months ago because they sold their house just a short distance away. initial damage is estimated at

more than $1 million. in montgomery county i'm will thomas, now back to you. tonight a deadly hit and run in prince george's county. police are on the hunt for the driver who hit two people and took off at walker mill road in district heights maryland. neither victim's name has been released, but we know a 28-year- old woman died and a 21-year- old man is in critical condition. police have one major clue. they believe the driver was in a 1990 honda accord. back in the district now a man run down by someone on a bicycle has died. 78-year-old kwan chu and his wife were walking in the 6700 block of massachusetts avenue. the bicyclist rushed by knocking them both to the ground. chu hit his head on the curb and died today. police are still looking for that bicyclist. the edge on virginia, police in roanoke county released a new picture of a missing 12-year-old girl with her suspected kidnapper.

police say this is britney mae smith and jeffrey scott easley at a wal-mart in salem friday night. the girl's mother was found dead in her home monday. britney is 12 years old, 5 feet tall, weighs 100 pounds. they are in a silver dodge neon with plates xkf2365. a gay couple from texas finds out their marriage isn't legal even though a licensed official in d.c. performed the ceremony. you'll hear what happened. and a big celebration tomorrow night near national mall can create some commuter headaches, but first quick check of our rundown. the news edge is back. o

wedded police or is it? two men who live -- wedded bliss or is it? >> two men who live in texas decided to hold their marriage in the lone star state even though gay marriage is not legal. they thought they'd get around it by doing it through skype.

even though the law does not specifically say all parties must be in d.c. at the time of the ceremony, their marriage has been denied. now lawyers are looking at the wording of the d.c. law. the pain at the pump getting worse, plus getting around the national mall tomorrow night will be pain as well. shawn yancy has your fox 5 top five. >> we begin tonight with the holiday present that no one wants. no. 5, it is going to cost you more to drive to grandma's house this holiday. gas prices are going up again and experts say the national average for a gallon of regular could hit $3 by january. all right, you say, yeah, it's almost $3 in the d.c. area, right? in district heights the average is 3.09, in maryland 2.99 and it's 2.88 in virginia. no. 4, a major break-through in what may cause sudden infant death syndrome. doctors say babies who die of sids tend to have significantly lower amounts of serotonin than babies who die of other causes. a lack of serotonin is suspected of making it harder

for a baby to wake up during a health emergency. no. 3, get your daughters to start walking or biking to school. it could improve test scores. a recent study found the longer the commute, the better the scores but scientists aren't sure if it's the actual commute or exercise in general and by the way, this same study does not apply to boys. no. 2, good and bad news for the housing market. mortgage applications fell last week as did re-fi applications, but purchase applications are up. experts say it's a good time to buy. mortgage rates have been near their lowest levels in decades. and no. 1 tonight, driving around the national mall will be a little tricky tomorrow. there will be parking restrictions and street closures for the national christmas tree lighting ceremony. starting at 4:30 p.m. 15th street will be closed from pennsylvania avenue to constitution avenue. 17th street will be closed from new york avenue to constitution avenue as well. the ceremony starts at 5 p.m. you can catch it right here on fox 5 and that's tonight's fox 5 top five, brian.

tough health news for the queen of soul tonight. aretha franklin is being treated for cancer. we'll have the latest on her condition straight ahead. fans all over the world today remembering music legend john lennon, a look back at what happened 30 years ago. listen to this one, hair- do's for inmates, a prison in france now offering beauty treatments to female prisoners. much like any salon, a lot of gossip, hairstylists saying the chit-chat behind bars about the same as in the free world. 

the queen of soul is battling a devastating disease. our sister station in detroit learn ad least a franklin has cancer. she had what's been -- learned aretha franklin has cancer. she had what's been called a serious surgery last week. she is 68 years old. three decades ago the world lost a music icon. we have a look back at the death of john lennon. >> reporter: a music legend murdered 30 years ago today. yoko ono said at first you're lying. it's not true. he can't be dead. it's a lie. it can't be. >> reporter: john lennon was shot four times in the back outside his new york city apartment building the dakota by a deranged fan mark david chapman. >> john was a musician, artist, peace activist, father and husband. new york city provided him the

foundation and freedom to be all of these things at his choosing. >> reporter: a determined campaigner of peace lennon worked hard to make an impact. this aspects of the late beatle is what most people remember about him. >> his legacy was to imagine that a peaceful world could exist. i think that's what his legacy will be. >> he wanted peace and ironically got taken away with a gun. >> reporter: just steps from where he was murdered new york's central park contains a much visited memorial to lennon called strawberry fields with one word, imagine. >> sometimes in society the victims get lost in all of this and we're all victims in this. john wasn't just one man. he meant a lot to a lot of people. >> reporter: mark david chapman remains in a new york prison. he has requested and been denied parole six times. >> a little bit of a warm-up

comparatively speaking. >> yes. if you get rid of the wind, you'll feel a lot warmer tomorrow and after that we're going to pet into the 40s for about three days -- get into the 40s for about three days. it's going to be about a three daybreak, because more cold stuff coming next week. december is definitely shaping up to be one of the coldest ones in a while even when you consider that we had all that snow last year in december. this first number of days in december is colder in comparison. get you started with a look at some of the high temperatures around the country today. we were 37 degrees in d.c., but a lot of spots were colder than we were even. detroit was 29, cincinnati 27, up toward minneapolis only 18, 11 in bismarck, even atlanta 36 degrees with a few flurries flying through the air there. hard pressed to find warmer temperatures on the map, that's for sure. mid-60s in brownsville, miami, 65 degrees today, their third day in the 60s. you can see how the jet stream is taking that cold air all the way down to the gulf of mexico. so it is indeed a very deep

trough. temperatures around the region tonight still pretty cold, 24 for dulles, 16 manassas, actually 28 degrees in the district now, 19 for frederick and the wind chill is out there. it's significant in some spots, but because the wind is so much lighter it's not as big of a deal. high pressure has really built in, though, and that means the winds will be light tonight as well as tomorrow, but it also means that our temperatures can get really low. we think it's going to be a range from about 16 to 23 degrees with those lower 20s being closer to the city's center and the teens being in the suburbs. quick look at your planner tomorrow. we know it's going to be a cold sunny one. we'll max out only in the 30s, but without the wind it should feel better. want to talk about the weekend, though, with you and the lake effect snow that's been going on. it is finally getting a bit better. the clouds have cleared out of d.c., not that we want to see that because it keeps us cold, but over the next few days there will be two storms that will be important. one is a clipper that will pass

us by friday. that goes to our north. we'll get a few clouds from it. this is more important and we think saturday for the most part looks dry until late in the day, but this storm taking more of a southern track. it looks like it's going to be rain for us, but if enough moisture got in here early enough on saturday night, we could have a little bit of a wintery mix north and west very late saturday. it will be rain off and on sunday. we think most of the day sunday will be that rain, but i want you to see what happens after this storm goes by. it may be cold enough to pull in just enough cold air that we get a little rain/snow mix at the end of it very late sunday into monday, but more importantly check out the cold air that gets pulled down behind that storm monday, bitter cold arctic air, next few days after that storm goes by, really significantly cold. here's a five-day forecast. 37 tomorrow. we'll get rid of the winds, that's for sure, and then we've got 40s to look forward to with that big storm on sunday primarily being rain. hey, feldy said shanahan was talking about the

haynesworth situation. we'll have details when we return. hi, i'm stationed in kuwait and i'd like to give a shout out to uncle keith, aunt tanya and my cousin aaron from virginia. merry christmas and happy holidays. here's to the believers. the risk-takers. the visionaries. the entrepreneurs... who put it all on the line to build and run their own businesses. at at&t, we know something about that. our company started out in a small lab, with not much more than a dream.

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at kaiser permanente, we believe that if knowledge is power, shared knowledge is even more powerful. kaiser permanente. thrive. good evening. albert haynesworth is no longer welcome at redskins park. he can't go to the games. he can't go to practice. he can't use the bathroom at the facility even if he is nice to b.j., the greatest reception in the history of team sports. albert haynes worth was told to

hit the road, played in only 20 games for a team that signed him last year to a $100 million contract with 41 mill guaranteed. the suspension left no doubt it as to who was in charge at the park. mike shanahan said he didn't even discuss the situation with owner daniel snyder. that's a pretty remarkable development given snyder's history of hands on ownership. guess who else he didn't discuss the suspension with? >> i think i kind of made a statement yesterday i was going to share the conversational better and i had, but since he wouldn't talk to me, i couldn't share that conversation with you guys. so that was a little tough. i really had a pretty good relationship with him. it was never argumentative, pretty good for the most part, a lot of dawn obviously with all the press coverage -- drama obviously with all the press coverage, but, you know, when someone dictates when they'll go in, when they won't go in, that was just a little bit too much for me. >> the players will tell you the questions about albert were annoying, even a distraction but not a factor in the 5-7

record. >> by no means i don't think anyone used it as an excuse or had even brought the situation up trying to explain what happened in different games. >> definitely not 5-7 because of distraction, just something you have to deal with constantly, you get tired of answering questions about it. it's drawn out and takes away from what you guys should be covering, you know, the wins, losses, what we do on the field, breaking that stuff down. >> i think it's great for everybody, but you guys, for this team, you know, for everybody, coaches did not get those questions anymore. so to move forward and concentrate on football and play football. former terp to be boomer isiason. laying it in with 18 off the bench. later in the 1st half greensboro's kyle randall gets rejected by shawl mosely and

cliff tucker to gordon -- shawn mosely and cliff tucker to gordon williams. they beat greensville 99-56. early 1st half in this one luke hancock with a nice lift to cam long inside who scored his 1,000th career point tonight. he had 15 in the 1st half. brian perryson spins with a season -- pearson spins with a season high 18 as the patriots defeat loyal la. the pass is stolen by aaron ware and he takes advantage of the gift, colonials by three. wayne smith weaves his way through the tigers. smith with 18, gw wins 73-66. the wizards on a road trip. john wall expected to play but unable to go with left foot

issues, andre blache also out with a hip. wizards rallied from down 11. al thornton missed the float, wizards leading by one after the -- missed the free-throw, wizards leading by one after the half. urban meyers now officially announced he will step down after the bowl game against penn state. i'm dave feldman, brian back with the edge after this.